Showing results by author "Billie Sue Mosiman" in All Categories

SUSPENSE STORIES TO KEEP YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT There is a peculiar allure of insidious characters—and especially assassins, hitmen, contract killers, and their ilk. Perhaps we find their uncomplicated moral codes and brutal efficiency appealing. These characters care little about ethics or morals—and perhaps that alone, that freedom from guilt, is exactly why we love them. Perhaps, deep down, we wish we could be like them. And perhaps, by reading stories with such characters, we can vicariously experience that thrill. PROPULSIVE, SUSPENSEFUL CRIME FICTION With this fascination ...

Jackie and her husband Antone are working hard to move out of the bottom class of society. In an earlier time, his work as a designer and Jackie's work as a professor of history would have made them middle-class. No longer. Like 99% of the population, they're poor. One day while her husband is at work, men in suits come and take Jackie and her children away to be interred in a prison camp in North Texas. Jackie hopes that Antone will rescue them. But if he does manage to get them out, where are they going to run?

"There is poison in the fang of the serpent, in the mouth of the fly, and in the sting of a scorpion; but the wicked man is saturated with it." — Chanakya WICKEDNESS RULES IN THESE SHORT STORIES Avaricious, cruel, depraved, envious, mean-spirited, vengeful, evil—the wicked have been with us since the beginnings of humankind. You might recognize them and you might not. But make no mistake. When the wicked cross your path, your life will never be the same. Do you know someone wicked? You will. The 21 suspense, horror, and fantasy stories in the Someone Wicked anthology were written by the...

When the Queen of the Fallen Angels came to earth again she took the dead body of a 10-year-old native girl on an island. It was the 1200s and life was primitive, but Angelique managed to rule the people for 200 years until Columbus arrived. Escaping her island home, the little angel with her malevolent intent, wandered through the world using humans to do her biding as her parents and guardians. Then she brought down Nisroc, an angel she trusted to be her partner and helpmate. The problem was, Nisroc wasn't like Angelique. Nisroc learned to love....

SPINE-CHILLING GHOST STORIES TO KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT It’s been said that there are no haunted places, only haunted people. That’s who you’ll find here, the haunted ones. A maintenance technician in remote Alaska, an English thief, a young couple on a road trip across America, an astronaut on a one-way ride to Jupiter, an Irish gravedigger, and dozens more. All victims of an otherworldly infection, all tormented by a plague of shadows. In this anthology, you will find tales of horror and suspense fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. An eclectic collection of ghost stories ...

Della Cambian was a senior in high school when she was struck by the family curse; vampirism. With the aid of the ancient known as Mentor, and harried by an aging millionaire with dreams of immortality, Del must find a way to prevent an evil that could endanger every natural vampire on Earth. And what kind of vampire should she be? Does she have the innate violence to be a Predator? Does the future hold nothing but fear and loathing?

Karl LaRosa is living the good life as a Hollywood agent. He's got the best clients, the finest car and home, plenty of lovers, and the world by the tail. Then someone starts stalking him, running him off the road, vandalizing his house, and so much more. Why was his life crumbling right before his eyes? What had he done to deserve such an enemy? What he doesn't know is that the events in his life follow the script of a murder movie being filmed, a film he's involved in. Can Karl solve the mystery?

He waits in the shadows, a dark and deadly presence. And with each new killing he becomes less human and more vicious. He stands patiently, a wire garrote in his hands, ready to claim another victim. Soon he will have one more to add to his growing list of victims unless they can stop him. But how can they stop him when they don't know who he is? Or what he is? To a terrified city he was known only as the Wireman.

THE 'HITS' KEEP COMING: SUSPENSE FICTION WITH A DIFFERENCE Hired killers. Vigilantes. Executioners. Contract killers. Assassins working from a moral or political motivation. You’ll find them all in this thrilling suspense anthology. But these are not ordinary killers, not your run-of-the-mill hitmen. The emphasis is on the "uncommon" here—unusual characters, usual situations, and especially unusual means of killing. Here are tales by some of the best suspense/thriller writers today, including F. Paul Wilson, Ken Bruen, J. Carson Black, Billie Sue Mosiman, Laura DiSilverio, Joseph Badal,...

It had been perfect at first for the four young people. Friends since their broken childhoods, now they stood together at the threshold of adulthood. They were a family by choice, not by nature. When supplies dwindled and society failed, so did the rules of civilization and the mountain closed in. Not all predators walk on four legs.

Jack DeShane is a veteran cop who has seen it all, but Mourning Mansion is some new hell he needs to investigate. Boys are missing. Bill Turk is an ex-con with more money than God. And Turk has put iron bars on all the verandahs and windows. Jack needs to find out why. Open the door...the marble floors await you...the darkness and the courage to fight it all reside here inside Mourning Mansion.

Women write horror and have written it since before Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. This anthology highlights the fact that women write great horror and kills the fallacy that they aren't in some way up to standard. They are. Hear stories by Elizabeth Massie, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Lucy Taylor, and a plethora of other great writers as they work on your nerves, get inside your head, and bang out some of the scariest tales written today. Lock the door and windows, put on a light, and remember, it's not real.

This year's stories are by an award-nominated author of horror and suspense. Two of the stories are novellas. Hear dark tales of terror and intrigue from an alien child left on an Earth overrun by zombie cannibals to the first killer in all the world, Cain, the murderer of Abel, his brother. This is a worthy addition to the ongoing yearly series of Sinister, these eight tales will make your dreams restless.

Angie moved with her father from St. Louis to the deep south town of Moon Lake, Mississippi. The lake was huge and peaceful, but the high school wasn't very friendly and Tyeson Dompier thought he owned the lake and everyone who lived around it. He wanted Angie for himself the way he'd had every girl he wanted, but his cruelty ruined everything.

The family is on a much needed vacation. A policeman, his teacher wife, and their daughter, Emily, a little girl with a preternatural gift, need a break. Emily's parents aren't getting along, but then they hardly ever did these days. When the family stops for a tour into the Longhorn Caverns, they have no idea something is about to happen to change their lives. Waiting for them are a young couple on the run. One is, Crow, an escaped convict. The other is his girlfriend, Heddy, who helped him escape and will do anything to keep him free.

First her husband killed their children, then himself. Now she's on her own, and she's bent on making sure it never happens to another woman. It's too late for her...she's already damaged. She's already caught in the depths of despair where only taking the law into her hands holds out any sort of relief. Yet when she stops the evil she's felt compelled to commit, the murders continue. Someone is a copycat, pinning crimes on her, stalking her, teasing her with his devious plan. She can't make him stop.

Molly Killany is looking for a new life. She's young...and desperate. She'll do anything to survive. Right now, all she's looking for is a free ride. Cruise Lavanic loves his car and the freedom of the road. He has no ties and no identity. He travels unnoticed, unsuspected. And he kills for pleasure. Molly sees Cruise at a truck stop. He looks good. He seems friendly. He offers her a ride. Now Molly's dream of a new life is about to become a nightmare....

He came out of nowhere and murdered Sully's wife, Frannie. Due to police negligence, the case was thrown out of court, and the killer never prosecuted. Sully wants revenge. Yet it's Carla, Frannie's sister, who means to right the wrong and make sure this killer doesn't get away with it. Now Carla is in the killer's spotlight and he's watching her, he's studying her, he's thinking about Killing Carla....

Fourteen brand-new 2013 tales of dread ranging from horror to dark science fiction and noir, Sinister will keep you awake at night. Two hundred and forty-four pages of aliens who come from the sky, a detective working his last case, a skull flenser who loves his job, and various evils and dark chills creep through this new collection from the Edgar and Stoker nominated author, Billie Sue Mosiman.

Rose Donahue was only seventeen when her life was turned upside down. Rose was a young child when her family came from Ireland in hopes of a better life. Things seemed to be going well. They had acquired a tiny homestead in Texas, and her father enjoyed working on the land. Rose being an only child, was close to her parents. A band of Apache Indians attacked the homestead. Rose's mother sent her into a hidey hole under the floor where they kept their potatoes and onions.